The Future of Shinobi
by ShowTime
Summary: Takes place 46 years after the series has ended, over a quarter of the shinobi population has been killed off within the past decade. Follow a group of ninja from Konoha as they try to find their places not only within the village itself, but within the ever-changing landscape of the ninja world as a whole.


**Author's Notes: So, I wrote most of this chapter a couple years ago... but I figure I'd post it out and maybe I'll work on it throughout the next few months if I get the creative juices going after... however many years it has been. How's everybody been? Have a great Christmas or whatever you guys celebrate!  
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 **As for the story itself, it picks up 46 years after the Naruto series ends, and that's all you get to know for now! You'll have to read on as the chapters come out to see what happened, mwhaha. Ha.**

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 **** _ **Year 46 After Series End**_

"Mama, mama!" Shouted a child, no older than twelve, as he ran down the streets of Konoha. His green eyes grew wide when he spotted his mother's food stand. Realizing he needed to cut down on his speed before he went flying into the shop, he gathered chakra to his limbs to help him absorb the force of stopping quickly. A brief moment later found the young ninja spinning out of control and slamming into a pile of empty crates outside his mother's store.

 _I can pass the Academy's test to become a genin, but a stupid pebble in the middle of the road manages to defeat me?_ He thought in a daze. His surroundings spun in a myriad of shapes and colors which left him with little choice but to bring his hand up to his mouth to prevent the contents of his stomach from spilling.

"Daichi," murmured the preteen's mother, "do you have to try and wreck my store every week?"

The boy's unfocused eyes snapped back to attention. He shot up from the crates like a cannon ball and landed right next to his mother. "Mom, I had to get back here as soon as I could to tell you the news!"

"Oh, and what might that be?"

"I passed! I passed my test!" The boy shouted, his young prepubescent voice reaching the ears of everyone in a one mile radius. "I graduated the Academy!"

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An unseasonably cool wind howled around a group of four on top the roof of Konoha's Ninja Academy. The three kids trembled together on the small bench, the ends of their fingertips growing numb from standing out in the elements for an extended length of time. The tallest member of the group, an adult who wore a simple green vest, stood unmoving. His mouth tilted down in a comfortable frown, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"So you three are my little charges, hm?" Spoke the tall, sturdy man, whose long dark ponytail hung down past his shoulder blades. His hazel brown eyes conveyed a look of boredom as he eyed his team.

The three genin-to-be shared nervous glances at each other before nodding their heads in his direction.

"How about we get this show on the road then?" He glanced them over quickly once more, an OCD quirk of his that had stuck around since his own days of being a genin. A laugh rattled around inside his thoughts as the three ninja in front of him squirmed while his chakra pressed upon them. Being able to quickly and efficiently size up a potential opponent's strength was necessary for any high level shinobi, and although it was a troublesome habit – more so to his allies than anything - it was still nice to have.

The man raised his right arm and pointed at the child with silver-colored hair. "From left to right, let's start off with introductions, hm."

The boy at the end leaned forward, his bangs brushing passed his chin in the process. His charcoal eyes shone with confidence as he revealed a cool smirk. "My name is Mizura Daisuke," he paused, a look of uncertainty flashing across his face. "Uh, now what?"

Their sensei narrowed his brown eyes at the group, annoyed at the fact that they couldn't reason to expound on their interests and goals.

"Um, mind if I give it a go, sensei?" Said the other boy at the far right.

"Daichi Murakumo, correct?" Their sensei stated as if reading the name from a class list. "Oh I'm sorry, I suppose I ruined the introduction for you, didn't I?"

Daichi looked at his sensei's brown eyes, unsure of the sincerity of his sensei's words. The boy drew in a deep breath, his own voice was cool and steady, his eyes holding the same look of boredom and annoyance.

"That's right, sensei. Considering jounin typically pick their groups based on what they want and not off of the academy scores like Aburame-sensei said, I'd hope you would know my name beforehand."

Their sensei's brown eyes widened with a look of surprise for the briefest of moments before the jounin regained his composure, his face settling back in to an unreadable mask in mere milliseconds.

Daichi tried, miserably, to hold in his fit of laughter at his sensei's reaction. After wiping away the corner of his eye, he lifted his head to meet the older man's gaze. "I'm sorry, sensei, I didn't even know if that was true, I had just overheard it from a chuunin at Ichiraku ramen. Looks like it's true though, eh?"

Mizura sat rigid, his right eye twitched in a tick of annoyance from watching, who he thought was a average student at best, be able to figure something like that out, when he hadn't even been able to see something that now appeared so obvious.

"Not bad for a little pipsqueak." He murmured.

"Hey who are you callin' a pipsqueak, freaky-hair boy! I'm barely shorter than you as it is, and judging from your parent's height compared to mine, once I hit puberty I'll – er...!"

"Woah, easy," said their sensei in a tone of voice that left them no room for further debate, "let the lady have a turn."

"Only if you go first, sensei," she said, her frosty blue eyes glinting with satisfaction in the afternoon sunlight.

"Ah, is that so? Alright then," the man straightened up and eyed the students meticulously, sending shivers through each one of them. "My name is Daichi Nara. I am 47 years old, and I was a part of the only team that Naruto Uzumaki ever took up before he left Konoha 30 years ago."

"No way!" Daichi shouted, his teammates' ears left ringing from the outburst. "You were trained by Naruto-dono?!"

"Do you ever shut up? Why are you so loud all the fucking time?" Mizura growled, his animosity towards his teammate leaking out to everyone in the shared space.

"Why are you picking on him?" said the all but forgotten kunoichi, her blue eyes glaring daggers of ice into Mizura's skull. "Yes, he gets loud from time to time, but he's not hurting anybody. Stop acting like a jerk, Mizura. We're suppose to be a team."

"Akako Shimura," spoke their sensei, "has a point. While it's impossible to get along with everybody on your team twenty-four seven, three-hundred sixty five days of the year, there is a manner in which to handle being jealous, and that's not to lash out at the teammate that caused that jealously."

Akako's head turned towards Mizura, her short brown hair swaying with the motion. "Jealous?"

"W-What? Me- jealous?" His black eyes glanced about before landing on his sensei's face.

"The moment Daichi brought up the fact that jounin hand pick their team, your chakra spiked, turning what I'd call a brown, murky color. Typically seen with those who are jealous." The Nara eyed him up and down. "For someone who had the top scores in almost every area, I wouldn't have expected such a jealous streak."

"Well it's natural to be jealous of the next Hokage." Daichi smiled wide. "No wait! Forget that, I'll be the leader of the Five Nations!"

Mizura rolled his eyes, "You do know that you have to hold the Kage title to be elected as the leader of the Five Nations, right?"

"What, seriously?"

Their sensei coughed in an obvious attempt to get their attention back to him. "With introductions out of the way, you three may be heading back to the academy soon." He held up a hand before Daichi could cry out. "You have a final test to pass tomorrow. Those who don't pass, fail as a team."

Akako's head shook, "What's the big deal of holding another test? I thought we already passed!"

"No," he stated simply. "That test was merely to clean out the wannabe ninja. This purifies the rest, if you will. If you can't pass this, you're back in the academy. Most of those who don't pass this part usually give up as they realize they don't have what it takes to be a true shinobi. We do this because if we allow someone who is unfit to be a ninja onto a team, he becomes a liability and it puts the entire unit at risk. With over a quarter of the shinobi population alone being decimated by what happened this past decade, we cannot afford to allow any weak links into our ranks. It jeopardizes everyone."

The three genin looked like they had been punched in the gut, which gave the Nara great amusement. "Starting tomorrow at noon," he continued while long black strands of shadows crawled over his body, "training ground seven," the shadows continued, obscuring his entire body from sight, "you'll fight to stay as a part of Team Three." He finished, disappearing without a trace.

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 **End of chapter one rambles: Pew pew... so as it stands, chapter one is in the books. Chapter two to be released hopefully within the next whenever-I-decide-to-write-it.**

 **Probably the shortest chapter I've written, and honestly I wanted to include the test in this. But this has - no joke - sat on my computer for a solid 1+ year, and I wanted to throw it out, in that hopefully by doing so I'll be motivated to write the many chapters to follow. Hopefully this 50 word chapter sparked some sort of interest but either way we'll see!**

 **Take care!**


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